Monday, Nov. 02, 2009

Residents still await quarry's response

CROSS -- Robert Ravenell spent every morning for two weeks outside the limestone quarry he said put cracks in the bricks of his house.

He and a couple dozen other residents were demanding payment for damages they said Martin Marietta caused by blasting at a limestone quarry near their homes. They held up signs outside the plant on County Line Road for two weeks in September as trucks rumbled in and out of the gate.

In an Aug. 26 letter, Martin Marietta promised to tell Ravenell and other residents if the company could help them within 60 days of the letter's date. The deadline was up last week, but Ravenell still was waiting.

"I haven't heard a thing," Ravenell said.

An attorney for the company said help is on the way, although how much is not clear.

"We have reviewed the pending Future Claims and will be responding to the claimants by mail this week," attorney Paul Dominick said in an e-mail Wednesday. "Although Martin Marietta denies causing any of the problems complained of by the claimants, the Company will be offering compensation to most of the claimants. Whether compensation is offered, and in what amount, is dependent upon each individual's claim information, including supporting documentation and proximity to the quarry."

Dominick later said he would not be able to mail the letters until this week because of sickness in the office.

"We reviewed over 60 claims," he said in an e-mail Friday. "Even though Martin Marietta denies causing any problems for these claimants, almost all will receive an offer of compensation. The claims were reviewed without regard to any limit on available funds. Since each claim was unique, the total amount offered, or an average amount offered, would not be useful information."

In a settlement agreement reached in 2003, about 700 residents within a 5-mile radius of the quarry were to divide $1 million, which averaged about $1,429 each. The agreement also requires the company to keep $100,000 in a fund for future claims, assuming activity at the quarry continues at present levels. The company also discontinued the blasting after the agreement.

The company spent several years handling the original claims before starting to consider new claims, which are the ones that concern residents now. Attorney Christopher Holmes helped work out the settlement agreement and set up for the fund for future claims. He said he regularly gets calls from residents who filed claims after the original settlement, wondering when they are going to get some money. "They're not happy about it, and I don't blame them," Holmes said. The last round of settlements paid only a fraction of the damages, he said.

"I spent many years with those people, and I've been in a lot of the houses," he said. "There's no question in my mind a lot of their damages were caused by blasting in that quarry. They call me periodically to say their claims are being ignored."